Towing tongue



.July 31 192%.' I 146399 w. D. HENRY TOWI NG TONGUEA Filed Feb. 25; 19222 sheets-sheet 2 y@ Qa, e BY ATTORNEY WILLIAM n. naiven,

GREENVSLLE, LLNOS.

TOTING TONGUE.

Application led February To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, WILLIAM D. HENRY, a citizenot the United States,residing at Greenville, in the county of Bond and State of illinois,have invented new and useiul Improvements in rlowing Tongues, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to a towing tongue for automobiles, trailers,trucks or analogous vehicles, and an object oi the invention is toprovide a towing tongue which may be utilized for towing automobiles,trucks, or analogous vehicles with bent radius rods, axles or similarbroken parte, which will eliminate the undesirable features such asjerking, the breaking of ropes, chains, or cables and avoid accidentswhich might be encountered in crowded thoroughares, going upon molineson dusty4 roads or aiter dark such as are Acontingent with variousdevices now in use for towing disabled vehicles. i

Another object of this invention is to provide a towing tongue asspecified which can be easily attached to and removed from connectionwith a disabled vehicle and which pulls from the trame et the vehicleavoiding heavy strains on the center of the axle, and further to providea towing tongue which will result in considerable saving ot time, andone which is designed so to provide a complete tool or equipmentdesigned for towing attachment to all approved types ot motor vehicles.

A. further object of this invention is to provide a towing tongue asspeciiied which includes an axle clamping structure designed to permitits attachment in an upright or reversed manner to the axle of a vehicleadapting it `for attachment, to vehicles vte permit radius adjustmentincases where the spindle connecting rod is bent or where the constructionof the vehicle requires such positioning of the device, alsoone which isadapted to permit proper adjustment to the spindle connecting rod whereit is positioned in front of the axle.

Another 4object of the invention is to provide means tor holding theaxle clamped parallel with thesteering cross rod while being tightened,and also a towing tongue structure designed -to adapt itself for usewith types of motor vehicles which have a splash pan or apron above andin front of the iront axle, the said towing tongue having its workingparts located beneath the front axle, and one which embodies acomparatively great 1922. @rial ne. 539,175.

number ot' adjustments permitting forward or rearward adjustment of thesteering connection thereof.

Uther objects or the invention will appear in the following detaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

ig. l is a side elevation of the improved towing tongue'showing itapplied and using a draw rod in connection therewith.

lll`ig. 2 is a top plan of the towing tongue showing the use of a cableand chain hitch in lieu ot the draw rod construction. y 3 is a irontview illustrating a iragnient olf iront spring, housing and enginesupport, and showing the engaging hoolr used 1n connection with the'drawrod.l

Fig. fl is an end view or Fig. 3 illustrating the connecting hookthereon.

hig. o is a top plan of a modified form of the towing tongue.

Fig. G is a longitudinal section taken on the line @-16 of Vltig. 5.

lT ig. 7 is a fragmentary detail illustrating the manner of connectingthe improved form of towing tongue to the radius rod in front of theaxle.

llig. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 ot' Fig. Y.

nig. 9 is a detail horizontal view taken on l the line 9-9 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the improved towing tonguecomprises a pole 1 which has a socket 2 connected thereto to whichsocket arms 3 and 1i are connected by means of a bolt 5. The arms 3 andlare in turn connected by a bolt 6 and it has an axle clamping member 7carried thereby. Threaded studs 8 are 'formed upon the axle clamps 'i'and receive nuts 9 `for engagement with the plate 10 and cooperationwith the jaws 11 rlier secure clamping engagement with a vehicle axle asshown at A. rlhe l has an extension 12 formed thereon whichhas anenlarged head 13 on its outer `l'ree end slotted as shown at 14 forreceiving and engaginethe shift pin 15 which shii't pin is connected bymeans ot a suitable clamp structure 16 to the cross rod 17 ci' thesteering mechanism ot a motor vehicle for steering the vehicle by thetowing tongue structure, thereby eliminating the need ot an operator linthe vehicle being towed.

- The pole l has a clevis 18 attached to its end remote from the socket2 and adjustably connected to the pole by means ot a transverselyvextending bolt 19. The clevis 18 is adapted for connection with avehicle used for towing a second or disabled vehicle.

The above described mechanisms are similar to the analogous structuresdescribed in my companion applications tiled February 5, l1921, SerialNo. 442,742, and June 3,'

1921 seriai No. 474,831.' j

The clevis 18 has a boss 2O formed thereon to which a draw rod 21 isconnected, vthe improved draw rod'being adjustable elative to the bossby adjustment of the nut 22on its threaded end. The draw rod 21 liasitsend remote from the clevis 18 connected to the bight portion 3 of anauxiliary hoolr24 which is adapted to engage about the spring tion isutilized in connection with the im- Y tion and the draw rod providing atool whichy proved towing tongue structure the draw rod 21 isdisconnected from the boss 2O and a relatively short rod 27 is connectedthereto, being adjustable relative to the boss by the nut 28. The rod 27carries a yoke 29 on its end remote from its threaded end 30, whichyolre rotatably supports a sheave 31. The cable 32 passes about thesheave 31 and has coupling linlrs 33 on its free ends to which linkchains 34`are` connected. rlhe said chains are adapted to be wrappedabout the springer axle structure to permit auxiliary connection with avehicle to be towed and to adapt the towing tongue for Vuse inconnection with various types of vehicles withA which the draw rod andauxiliary hoolr could not be employed. In supplying the improved towingtongue the structure may be applied with both a flexible connecisreadily adaptable for attachment to motor vehicles of diiierent mairesor styles and one wherein the various parts of theftowing tonguestructure are positioned beneath the axle so as to preventV theirinterference with parts of the vehiclewhich might Vhe located above theaxle or in close proximity thereto.

In Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 of `the drawings,y a

modified form the invention is shown` which modified torni isparticularly adapted for use in connection with light or low tonnagetrucks, the saidmod'ed form being adjustablefand designed i'or quiclrand easy attachment to or disconnection from motor vehicles of moderndesign without making changes or alterations and in4 which the steeringarrangement oi' construction is substantially the same steering capacityas the steering' wheel of a vehicle.

ln this modified torni, the improved tow- .ing .tongue comprises a iiatbar 40 which has a second relatively short bar 41 pivotally connectedthereto, by means of a bolt 42. The bars 40 and 41 are adjustablyconnected by means of a bolt 43 which extends through the bar 41, aplate 44 and threads into the `plate 40 as clearly shown in F ig. of thedrawings. The plate 44 has upstanding axle engaging and clampingV bars45 carried thereby, and arranged in pairsv at the ends ot' thetransverse projection 46 on the plate, the said upstanding pairs ofclamping bars being forced into clamping engagement with an. axleB bymeans O the bolts 47. The bar 40 has a head 4S carried thereby which isprovided with a longitudinally extending slot 49 'for receiving` the pin50 which is connected to the steering cross rod 5l of the vehicle byaclamping structure 52. Theclamping structure 52 is similar to theclamping structure 16 shown in Figs. 1 and`2 ot' the drawings andoperates in similar manner. n ease the cross rod 51 is positioned iniront oro the axle B suoli con" struction beingillustrated in yFigs, Yand 8 ,of Ythe drawings, a novel form Voiiclamp structure is providedtopermit connection ofthe towing tongue to the cross rod, suoli Vclampstructure comprises rods Y53, which have rod clamping heads 54 upontheir upper ends, Vthe said headsv being adapted for tightly clampingacross or about the rod 51 and vfor maintaining the rods l53 inlengagement with the edges `of the bars40 and 41 topermit movement of thesteering rod 51 with movement of the towing tongue.

It is to be understood, that bv lmeans of the head 55, the modified formof the towing tongue structure may be connected to the coupling 2 and tothe pole 1 ofthe towing tongue structure.

lt is, of course, to beunderstood that the invention may be constructedin .other manners and the parts associated in other relations and,therefore, I do. not desire tobe limited in any manner except'asfsetorthin the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. Ina towing tongue, a pole, a clevis adjustably connected to one endof said pole, axle engaging clamping means carried theopposite end ofsaid polea. sheave pulley adjustably connected to saidlpole, and aflexibley member e-xtendingabout said pulley and adapted forconnectionwith a `vehicle to be towed.

2. In atowingtongue, a pole, a clevis adjustablyconnected to one end ofsaid pole,

axle engaging clamping means carried by they opposite end oft vsaidpole, a rodadjustably carried by said clevis, a sheave rotatalll iai

bly supported by said rod, and a flexible member passing about saidsheave and adapted for connection with a vehicle to be towed.

3. In a towing tongue, a pole, a olevis adjustably connected to one endof said pole, axle engaging clamping` means carried by the opposite endof said pole, a rod adjustably carried by said olevis, a sheaverotatably supported by said rod, a 'Flexible member passing about saidsheave and adapted for connection With a Vehicle to be towed, and

steering means adjustably Connected to said a'Xle engaging and Clampingmeans.

In testimony whereof I atx my signature.

W'lLLIAM D. HENRY.

